American Battle Graves Archive
U.S. Army Air Forces seal

WWII · Battle Death Record

Frederick Castle

Brigadier General, U.S. Army Air Forces · New Jersey

Medal of Honor

Personnel File — Core Information

Name
Frederick Castle
Entered the Service From
New Jersey
Rank
Brigadier General
Service
U.S. Army Air Forces
Unit / Regiment
4th Bombardment Wing, Eighth Air Force
War
WWII
Date of Death
December 24, 1944
Awards
Medal of Honor, Silver Star
Burial / Memorial
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial, Henri-Chapelle, Belgium
Grave
Plot D, Row 13, Grave 53

Their story

Brigadier General Frederick W. Castle led one of the largest heavy bomber formations of the war against German airfields on 24 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. After his B-17 was crippled by enemy fighters and set afire, he stayed at the controls to keep the aircraft level so his crew could bail out, and was killed when the plane went into a spin and crashed; five of his crew survived. He is the highest-ranking American serviceman buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.

Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.

This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.